Door holding device



E. L. ALLEN DOOR HOLDING DEVICE Dec. 8, 1959 Filed Jan. 26. 19

zql i'fllllulllllll Afro RNEYS "Dec. 8, 1959 I E. 1.. ALLEN 2,915,779

DOOR HOLDING DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I "JIIIIIA VIII I ll/ INVENTQR. fan/0v L ALLEN Dec. 8, 1959 I ALLEN I 2,915,779

DOOR HOLDING DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Eon/0v L AMEN Dec. 8, 1959 E. ALLEN 2,915,779

DOOR HOLDING DEVICE Filed Jan. 26, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Dec. 8, 1959 E. L. ALLEN DOOR HOLDING DEVICE 5 sheets-sheet 5 Filed Jan. 26, 1956 INVENTOR. Eon/w Z flue/v United States Patent P DOOR HOLDING DEVICE Edwin L. Allen, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Lisle W. Menzimer, Rockford, 111., as trustee Application January 26, 1956, Serial No. 561,566

33 Claims. (CI. 16-82) This invention relates to holding devices for preventing undesired movement between two relatively movable parts, but which will also permit a relatively free movement between the parts whenever such relative movement is desired. The invention is applicable to a variety of uses but is especially useful in controlling the movement of a vehicle door and is, therefore, disclosed herein as applied to such a door but without any intention of limiting the invention solely to that use.

A conventional automobile door has the annoying tendency, under certain conditions, to swing shut when the user desires that the door stay open. This tendency may be produced by any of various causes, such as by the inclination of the axis of the door hinge, by the transverse curvature or crown of a pavement or road, by the slope of a hill or by a gust of wind. The holding device of the present invention eflectively prevents this annoying tendency.

This application is related, as to subject matter, to my copending application Serial No. 533,415 filed September 9, 1955.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a holding device of a simple and practical form which will efiectively hold a movable member in any given position to which it is moved, and which will also permit a relatively free movement of the member to any other given position whenever such movement is desired. When the movable member is a door or the like, the given position can be its fully open position or any intermediate position to which it is movable.

Another object is to provide a holding device for a vehicle door, or the like, comprising a thrust transmitting member or arm and a clamping means adapted to produce a releasable clamping action on the arm at any point therealong and in which the development of any desired degree of holding power is readily obtainable, such that the automobile designer is at liberty to incline the hinge axis in any direction or at any angle he chooses for obtaining a desired body styling without being concerned about any tendency for the door to fall shut.

Still another object is to provide such a holding device which will counterbalance and control the door movement under all conditions of vehicle use and which will assist in the opening of the door from its closed position.

A further object is to provide a novel holding device of the kind above indicated in which rollable clamping means continuously in contact with the arm automatically clamps the latter whenever the door is relatively stationary and in which movement imparted to the door automatically causes the rollable clamping means to release the arm.

Yet another object is to provide a holding device comprising roller-carrying means which is tiltable to cause the roller means to clamp or release the arm, and in which a resilient means is efiective to tilt the carrier means to cause the roller means to clamp the arm whenever the door isrelatively stationary and a releasing 2,915,779 Patented Dec. 8, 1,959

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means causes the roller means to release the arm in response to movement of the door in either direction.

As another of its objects this invention provides a holding device of the kind above referred to in which the clamping means comprises a pair of spaced-apart rollable elements With the arm extending therebetween, and in which a couple-producing movement imparted to the rollable elements causes the same to clamp the arm.

It is also an object of this invention to provide such a holding device in which the arm is a substantially flatsurfaced arm and in which the rollable elements are of metal which is relatively harder than the metal of the arm.

It is likewise an object of this invention to provide a holding device for use with a hinged door structure and its associated doorframe structure, comprising a support disposed within one of those structures and a carrier associated with the support and having spaced-apart rollers thereon adapted to clamp or release an arm connected with the other of the structures in response to a coupleproducing movement imparted to the rollers by tilting of the carrier; and in which a resilient means tilts the carrier to automatically cause clamping of the arm by the rollers whenever the door is stationary, and engagement between the support and a contact means of the carrier causes the rollers to release the arm whenever the door is being moved.

As still another of its objects, this invention provides a holding device of the character above indicated in which the arm extends through the support and between the rollers of the carrier and is prevented from being withdrawn therefrom by stop means limiting the relative movement between the door and doorframe structures.

Additionally, this invention provides a holding device of the kind indicated above in which the tiltable carrier has an opening therein exposing the spaced-apart rollers between which the arm extends, and in which bearing means on the carrier supports the rollers for rotation about their axes such that the rollers facilitate movement of the arm therebetween when the rollers are in their arm-releasing position.

The invention can be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and particularly set out in the claims hereof.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation of an automobile showing the holding device of the present invention in an installed position thereon and applied to one of the doors of the automobile;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken through a portion of the automobile adjacent the installed position of the holding device, as indicated by the section line 22 of Fig. 1, and with the door shown in its closed position;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section similar to that of Fig. 2 but showing the door in its fully opened position;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken through the holding device as indicated by section line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing the relative positions of the components of the holding device when the door is in its fully opened position;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section similar to that of Fig. 4 but show ng the relative positions of the components of the holding device when the door is being held thereby;

Fig. 6 is an elevational View, partially in section, taken on lines 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section similar to that of Fig. 5 but showing the relative positions of the components when the door is in its fully closed and latched position;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section similar to that of Fig. 5 but showing the clamping unit in detached relation and prior to the assembly of the arm therewith;

Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the carrier shown in detached relation but with the rollers thereon, the carrier being viewed as indicated by line 99 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section taken through the carrier and rollers as indicated by section line 1010 of Fig. 9;

Fig. ll is an edge view of the carrier when viewed as indicated by line 11-11 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a transverse section of the carrier taken on section line 12-12 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a transverse section corresponding with a portion of Fig. 3 and showing the relative position of the arm in the guide slot of the clamping unit when the door is in its closed position;

Fig. 14 is a transverse section similar to that of Fig. 13 but showing the position of the arm in the guide slot when the door is substantially in a half-open position;

Fig. 15 is a front elevation of a modified form of the carrier shown in detached relation but with the rollers thereon, the carrier being viewed as indicated by line 1515 of Fig. 17;

Fig. 16 is a longitudinal section taken through the modified carrier of Fig. 15 as indicated by line 16--16 thereof;

Fig. 17 is an edge view of the modified carrier when viewed as indicated by line 1717 of Fig. 15;

Fig. 18 is a transverse section of the modified carrier taken on section line 1813 of Fig. 17;

Fig. 19 is a vertical section similar to that of Fig. 4 but representing a mod'fied form of holding device with the components thereof shown in positions occupied by them when the door is being opened.

Fig. 20 is vertical section of the modified holding device of Fig. 19 and showing the positions of the components thereof when the door is being held thereby;

Fig. 21 is another vertical section of the modified holding device of Fig. 19 but with the components being shown in positions occupied by them when the door is being closed;

Fig. 22 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on section line 22-22 of Fig. 20; and

Fig. 23 is another fragmentary section taken on section line 2323 of Fig. 20.

As one practical embodiment of the present invention, Figs. 1 to 14 inclusive of the drawings show a novel hold ng device 10 in the form of a combined door holding and door check device applied to a vehicle 11 for controlling the movement of a door 12 thereof.

The vehicle 11 is here shown as being an automobile having a conventional body 11 which includes a doorframe structure 13 on which the door 12 is mounted for lateral swing ng movement by means of suitable hinges 14. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the doorframe structure 13 and the structure of the door 12 are both hollow structures, such that the doorframe structure has a wall space or chamber 15 therein and the door 12 has a wall space or chamber 16 therein. The doorframe structure 13 includes an upright end wall or jamb 17, and the door 12 similarly includes an upright end wall 18 which moves into an adjacently opposed relation to the end wall 17, as shown in Fig. 2, when the door is moved to its closed position.

The holding device 10 comprises, in general, a substantially rigid arm 21 and a clamping unit 22 through which the arm extends. The arm 21 has one end thereof connected with one of the relatively movable parts, in this instance the doorframe structure 13, by means of a bracket 23 which is suitably mounted on the end wall 17. The arm 21 is here shown as being a rigid substantially fiat-surfaced metal bar and is pivotally connected with the bracket 23 as by means of a suitable pivot pin 24.

The clamping unit 22 is connected with the other of the pair of relatively movable parts and, in this instance,

is mounted on the door 12. The clamping unit 22 is preferably located within the door 12 by being disposed in the chamber 16 so as to be housed and concealed in the latter. The clamping unit 22 can be mounted on the door in this concealed position by being attached to a corner bracket 25 located in the chamber 16. In this instance the clamping unit 22 is attached to the bracket 25 by rivets 26.

Although the arm 21 and the clamping unit 22 have been described just above as being mounted respectively on the doorframe structure 13 and the door 12, it should be understood, however, that this relative arrangement can be reversed and, if desired, the arm 21 can be connected with the movable part or door and the clamping unit 22 can be connected with the relatively stationary part or doorframe structure.

The clamping unit 22 comprises a cage 28 which can be of any suitable shape and construction but is here shown as comprising a base plate 29 and a housing member 30 mounted on such base plate. The housing member 34 can be a stamped hollow sheet metal member having walls defining a pocket or chamber 31 and which walls include top and bottom walls 32 and 33, substantially parallel side walls 27 and a front wall 34.

The base plate 29 is a substantially flat sheet metal plate forming a mount for the housing member 30 and a cover for the chamber 31. The base plate preferably has stiffening and locating flanges along its end and side edges. The housing member 30 and the base plate 29 can be maintained in a connected relation as by means of bendable tabs 35 carried by the base plate and overlying end flanges 36 and 37 of the top and bottom walls 32 and 33 of the housing member.

The base plate 29 and the end flanges 36 and 37 of the housing member 30 have aligned openings therein to accommodate the above-mentioned rivets 26 by which the clamping unit 22 is attached to the corner bracket 25 of the door 12. The base plate 29 and the front wall 34 of the housing member 31} have substantially aligned openings 39 and 40 therein which accommodate the arm 21. The opening 40 preferably has lugs 41 and 41 at opposite sides thereof formed by inturned integral portions of the wall 34 for guiding engagement with the arm 21 during relative movement between the arm and the clamping unit 22, such guiding engagement being shown in Figs. 13 and 14. When the door is in its closed position one side edge of the arm 21 is in engagementwith the guide lug 41 as shown in Fig. 13, and when the door is in a substantially half-open position the other edge of the arm is in engagement with the guide lug 4112 as shown in Fig. 14.

The clamping unit 22 also includes as important parts thereof a carrier 42, rollable clamping means 43 on the carrier, and a resilient means 44 which exerts force against both the carrier and the cage 28. The carrier 42 and the resilient means 44 are here shown as both being located in the chamber 31 and the carrier is tiltable therein for causing the rollable means 43 to clamp or release the arm 21, as is explained in greater detail hereinafter.

The carrier 42 is preferably in the form of a plate structure having an opening 45 in an intermediate portion thereof through which the arm 21 extends and which is substantially aligned with the openings 39 and 40 of the cage 28. The carrier 42 is here shown as comprising two connected plate members 47 and 48 of which the plate member 47 forms the body of the carrier and the plate member 48 forms a retainer or hearing cap for the rollable clamping means 43. The plate member 48 is provided with an opening 49 therein and lies against the plate member 47 with its opening substantially opposite the opening 45 of the latter. The plate member 48 can be secured to the plate member 47 in this position by means of rivets 50.

The carrier 42 is of a bowed shape having upper and lower arm portions 52 and 53 located on opposite sides of the openings 45 and 49. The upper arm portion 52 is formed by the upper portion of the plate member 47 and the lower arm portion 53 is formed by the lower portion of the plate member 48. For a purpose to be explained hereinafter, the upper rivets form a contact element 54 which is engageable by the base plate 29 of the cage 28, as shown in Fig. 4, and an angularly disposed finger on the lower portion of the plate member 48 forms a lower contact element 55 which is engageable by the front wall 34 of the cage, as shown in Fig. 7.

The resilient means 44 preferably comprises a single helical compression spring which is disposed between the upper arm 52 of the carrier 42 and the front wall 34 of the cage 28. One end of the spring 44 engages a spring seat in the form of a locating pocket 57 formed on the wall 34 and the other end of the spring seats against the arm 52 in surrounding relation to a locating boss 53 formed thereon. As is apparent from Fig. 4, the spring 44 is under an initial compressive load between the wall 34 and the carrier 42.

The clamping means 43 comprises a pair of rollers 43 and 43 between which the arm 21 extends. These rollers are supported by the carrier 42 in a substantially parallel relation and for rotation about their axes. The rollers 43 and 43 are located on the carrier 42 so as to be exposed from opposite sides thereof by the openings 45 and 49 of the plate members 4'7 and 48. The roller 43 is laterally offset with respect to the roller 4%, such that its axis lies in an offset position relative to a plane passing through the axis of the roller 43 and extending in a transverse perpendicular relation to the arm 21.

The rollers 43 and 43 are mounted on the carrier 42 by means of the plate member 48 whose side portions on opposite sides of the opening 49 are formed or boxed to define retainer straps or bearing caps 68 overlying the relatively reduced end portions or journals 61 of the rollers. The bearing caps 66 limit the separating movement of the rollers to a predetermined value in relation to the thickness of the arm 21 extending therebetween, such that the rollers will always be in contact with the upper and lower surfaces 21 and 21 of the arm.

When the carrier 42, having the rollers 43 and 43 thereon, is in its assembled position in the clamping unit 22 as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it is supported in the chamber 31 by the arm 21 with the upper edge 63 of the plate member 47 slidably bearing against the inner surface of the top wall 32 of the cage 28. The carrier 42 is of a width such that it will be loosely guided in the chamber 31 between the side walls 27 of the cage 28, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, and will have a relatively free tilting movement therein for producing a swinging of the pair of rollers 43 and 43 relative to the arm 21 and which swinging can be conveniently referred to as a couple-producing movement of these rollers. The swinging movement of the rollers 43 and 43 produces a clamping or releasing effect on the arm 21, depending upon the direction of the swinging movement, as will he further explained hereinafter. From the assembled location shown and described herein for the carrier 42, it will be seen that the carrier is fulcrumcd on the arm. 21 and will produce a very effective lever actuation of the rollers during its tilting movements in the chamber 31.

The arm 21 is prevented from being withdrawn from the cage 28 and from between the rollers 43 and 43 by stop means 65 provided on the outer end of the arm and which is engageable with the cage of the clamping unit 22 for this purpose. This step means also limits relative movement between the relatively movable con nected parts, that is to say, opening movement between the door 12 and its. doorframe structure 13.

The stop means 65 is here shown as comprising a bumper element 66 in the form of a cushion block made of rubber, or the like, and having an opening or slot 66 therein by which it is mounted on the arm 21. The stop means 65 also comprises a backing plate 67 engaged by the outer face of the bumper block 66 and a cotter pin 68, or the like, extending through an opening of the arm for retaining the backing plate in position thereon.

To describe the tilting movements of the carrier 42 by which the arm clamping and arm releasing functions of the rollers 43 and 43 are produced, it is pointed out that Fig. 7 shows the relative positions of the components of the clamping unit 22 when the door 12 is in its closed and latched position. At this time the spring 44 is in a further compressed or loaded condition between the cage 28 and the carrier 42 and the lower contact element 55 is adjacent to or in engagement with the wall 34 of the cage. The expansive action of the spring 44 is now imparting a tilting force to the carrier 42in a clockwise direction by which the upper roller 43% is being forced downwardly against the upper surface 21 of the arm 21, and the lower roller 43 is being forced upwardly against the lower face 21 of the arm. This tilt thus imparted to the carrier 42 causes the above-mentioned couple-producing movement of the rollers 43* and 43*, as the result of which these rollers exert a positive clamping action on the arm whereby the carrier 42 is temporarily connected to the arm in a relatively fixed relation.

With respect to the action of the rollers 43 and 43*, it is important to understand that when the clamping action of these rollers on the arm 21 is released, the arm can move freely in a longitudinal direction between the rollers but when the rollers are forced against the surfaces of the arm in clamping engagement therewith by the above-mentioned couple-producing movement, they strongly grip the arm to thereby resist or prevent longitudinal movement thereof. When the clamping action of the rollers on the arm has been released, the rollers function merely as rollers, at which time they rotate relatively freely about their axes and facilitate and guide the longitudinal movement of the arm 21 through the cage 28. When the couple producing movement of the rollers causes them to clamp the arm 21, they no longer act as rollers but then function as relatively non-rotatable gripping elements for gripping and holding the arm.

When the latch of the door 12 is manually released the spring 44 expands from its fully loaded condition shown in Fig. 7, and since the carrier 42 is then held in a relatively fixed relation by the arm 21, the carrier serves as an abutment against which the spring reacts such that the expansive movement of the spring takes place in a direction away from the carrier and imparts opening movement to the door 12 through the cage 28. This expansive action of the spring 44 thus assists the initial opening movement of the door until the parts of the clamping unit 22 assume the relative positions shown in Fig. 5, in which the spring 44 is in a partially expanded condition and the wall 34 of the cage has been moved away from the contact element 55.

Fig. 4 shows the condition of the clamping unit 22 when the door 12 is in its fully opened position, in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and while the operators hand still remains on the door. When the operators hand is removed from the door, the normal tendency for the door to swing in the closing direction causes the base plate 29 to be moved away from the contact element 54 whereupon the parts of the clamping unit 22 assume the relative positions shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Fig. 5 is also representative of the condition of the clamping unit 22 when the door is relatively stationary in any of its intermediate positions between the fully closed position and the fully open position, such as in one of the intermediate positions represented in Fig. 3 by the broken line showings 10, 10 and 10 of the holding device.

With the parts of the clamping unit 22 in the relative positions shown in Fig. 5, the spring 44 is still in a partially loaded condition and its expansive action maintains the carrier 42 in a tilted relation by which the tendency to impart a clockwise couple-producing movement to the rollers 43 and 43 causes the latter to maintain a clamped engagement with the arm 21 by which the carrier is substantially rigidly connected with the arm, and which rigid connection is maintained as long as the spring holds the carrier in a tilted position. By reason of this clamped engagement between the rollers and the arm, the door will be firmly held in any intermediate position in which it is left standing. The partially loaded condition of the spring 44, just above mentioned, results from its initial compression at assembly augmented by the compression load thereon by the door 12 while the spring is resisting or counterbalancing the normal tendency of the door to swing shut.

If the door 12 is standing in a partially open position and is to be opened further by a manual movement imparted thereto, the tendency will be for the cage 28 to be moved along the arm 21 in a direction toward the left, as seen in Fig. 5. Since the carrier 42 is now being temporarily held in a relatively fixed connection with the arm by the clamping engagement of the rollers 43 and 43 on the latter, the cage 28 will move with the door and relative to the carrier 42, causing the base plate 29 to engage the contact element 54. This engagement of the base plate with the contact element 54 causes tilting of the carrier 42 about the arm 21 and in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 5, to thereby produce a movement of the rollers in a releasing direction, that is, in a reverse direction from their couple-producing movement, whereby their clamping engagement with the arm is released.

As long as the opening movement being imparted to the door is causing a pushing action of the base plate 29 against the contact element 54, the tendency to produce a counterclockwise movement of the rollers will continue and the clamping action of the rollers will be released and they will function merely as rollers, permitting a relatively free movement of the arm 21 therebetween. When the operators hand is removed from the door at the completion of such further opening movement, the components of the clamping unit 22 will automatically assume the relative positions shown in Fig. in which the carrier 42 is again tilted by the spring 44 in a direction to cause a clockwise couple-producing movement of the rollers, whereby the carrier is again rigidly connected with the arm and thus holds r the door in the position in which it is left standing.

If the opening movement of the door is continued to its fully opened position of Fig. 4, the bumper element 66 of the stop means will be engaged by the cage 28 and will prevent any further opening movement. If the operators hand is now removed, the door will tend to swing shut and will move a short distance in a closing direction against the resistance of the spring 44 until the parts of the clamping unit 22 again automatically assume the holding position shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the door will be firmly held in such fully opened position.

If the operator desires to move the door 12 toward its closed position from any position in which it is being held open by the ho ding device it), the manual closing movement imparted to the door tends to cause shifting of the cage 23 along the arm 21 toward the right, as seen in Fig. 5. Since the carrier 22 is then being held in a relatively fixed connection with the arm by the clamping engagement of the rollers 43 and 43 on the latter under the influence of the spring 44, the carrier remains relatively stationary until the wall 34 of the cage engages the contact element 55 whereupon the carrier is tilted in a counterclockwise direction to impart a counterclockwise or releasing movement to the rollers 43 and 43*, whereby the latter release their clamped engagement with the arm.

The release of the carrier 42 from the arm 21 permits the clamping unit 22 to move freely along the arm as long as the doorclosing movement is being manually imparted to the door. If the door-closing movement is interrupted at any time by the removal of the operators hand from the door, the carrier 42 will automatically assume its clockwise tilted relation to thereby produce the aboveexplained clamping engagement of the rollers with the arm 21 for firmly holding the door in any position in which it is left standing. If the closing movement being imparted to the door is sufiicient to move the door to its fully closed and latched condition, the parts of the unit 22 again assume the relative positions shown in Fig. 7 in which the spring 44 has been compressed to the abovementioned further loaded condition to provide the abovedescribed action in assisting the initial opening movement when the door is subsequently unlatched.

Fig. 8 of the drawings shows the relative positions of the component parts of the clamping unit 22 before the arm 21 has been inserted through the cage 28 and between the clamping rollers 43 and 43 of the carrier 42. During the insertion of the arm 21 the carrier 42 is tilted to the position shown in Pig. 4, thereby completing the initial loading of the spring 44. The rollers 43* and 43* are preferably hardened to a suitable degree so as to prevent the occurrence of wear such as might otherwise produce fiat spots thereon. The metal of the rollers is preferably relatively harder than that of the arm 21. As shown in the drawings, the upper and lower surfaces 21 and 21 of the arm are relatively flat and smooth for substantially the full length of the arm.

Figs. 15 to 18 inclusive of the drawings show a carrier 70 which is similar to the above-described carrier 42 but which is of a modified construction in that the plate member 71 defining the bearing caps 72 for the reduced ends 73 of the clamping rollers 74 and 75 is connected with the plate member 76 by a suitable number of welds '77. In the carrier '76, the strap portions of the plate member 71 which are located on opposite sides of the opening '73 and form the bearing caps 72 are of a wavy configuration, as shown in Fig. 17, such that the spacing of the rollers on the carrier is maintained relatively fixed. In all other respects the modified carrier 70 is substantially the same as the carrier 42 and is used to perform the same functions in a clamping unit.

Figs. 19 to 23 inclusive of the drawings show a modified door holding device 8t) generally similar to the abovedescribed door holding device it} but in which the scring 81, which corresponds with the spring 44 of the holding device 1%, is located in the lower portion of the cage 82, and in which the swinging movements of the clamping rollers 33 and 34 of the carrier 85 are reversed with respect to the swinging movements of the rollers of the holding device it? in relation to the direction of these movements for clamping or releasing the arm 86. Thus, in the modified holding device Sit a counterclockwise swinging movement imparted to the rollers 83 and 84 causes the latter to clamp the arm 86 and a clockwise swinging movement causes the rollers to release the arm.

In the modified holding device to contact element 87 of the carrier 85, which is engaged by the base plate 88 for causing the clockwise releasing movement of the rollers 83 and S4, is located below the arm 86 and the contact element 8?, which is engageable by the wall 90 of the cage 91, is located above the arm. The carrier differs in construction from the above described carriers 42 and iii in that it is a one-piece sheet metal plate member and has integral deflected strap portions 92 thereon which form the retaining elements or bearing caps for rollers 83 and The strap portions 92 are located at the side edges of the carrier and cooperate with the intermediate portion 93 thereof for rotatably supporting the rollers 83 and 84 in a manner such that the rollers have limited relative closing and separating movement and are adapted to clamp or release the arm 86 in response to tilting movements of the carrier 85 in the cage 91.

The rollers 83 and 84 are of substantially the same diameter for their full length, such that they are insertable into the bearing means of the carrier 85 by an endwise movement imparted to the rollers. The onepiece construction of the carrier 85 and the facility with which the rollers can be inserted into the carrier, as Well as the uniform diameter of the rollers, are features contributing to the economy of manufacture of this parthis novel door holding device will automatically produce a door holding action whenever the door is in a relatively stationary position and will automatically release the door holding action whenever the door is being moved. It will be understood, furthermore, that in all forms of this novel door holding device the clamping engagement with the arm is produced by clamping rollers in response toa couple-producing movement imparted thereto and that when the clamping action of the rollers on the arm is released they rotate freely to facilitate the movement of the arm therebetween. Additionally, it will now be understood that the clamping action of the rollers causes them to grip the arm with a holding force suflicient to normally prevent swinging movement of the door.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described herein to a somewhat detailed extent, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be regarded as being limited correspondingly in scope, since it is intended to include all changes and modifications coming within the terms of the claims hereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adaptedfor connection with one of said parts, said arm being of uniform thickness throughout the major portion of its length and having substantially flat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and comprising rollable meanscontinuously in contact with said surfaces at longitudinally offset points along the arm and normally being rollable against said surfaces, and means tiltable relative to said arm for pressing said rollable means against said surfaces at said longitudinally offset points and rendering said rollable means substantially nonrotatable and effective to clampingly grip said arm at any location therealong with a holding force sufiicient to normally prevent relative movement between said parts.

2. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, said arm having substantially flat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and including rollable means continuously in contact with said surfaces and a single carrier for said rollable means, said carrier being tiltable relative to said arm for imparting a coupleproducing translatory movement to the rollable means for pressing the latter against said surfaces and thereby rendering said rollable means substantially nonrotatable and clampingly effective to grip said arm at any point therealong with a holding force sufiicient to normally prevent relative movement between said parts, and resilient means tending to produce such tilting of said carrier.

3. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, said arm having substantially flat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and including rollable means continuously in contact with said surfaces and a single carrier for said rollable means, said carrier being tiltable relative to said arm for rendering said rollable means substantially nonrotatable and clampingly effective to grip said arm at any point along the latter for normally preventing relative movement between said parts, resilient means acting on said carrier to cause such tilting thereof, and releasing means effective in opposition to said resilient means and in response to relative movement between said parts for causing said rollable means to release said arm.

4. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, said arm being of uniform thickness for the major portion of its length and having fiat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and comprising a tiltable carrier tiltable in opposite directions relative to said arm and having an opening through which said arm extends, roller means supported by said carrier and positioned by the latter in rolling contact with said surfaces at longitudinally offset points along the arm, means effective on said carrier to tilt the same in one direction to cause said roller means to clamp said arm for normally preventing relative movement between said parts, and means effective to tilt said carrier in the opposite direction in response to relative movement between said parts for causing said roller means to release said arm.

5. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, said arm being of uniform thickness for the major portion of its length and having flat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and having a pair of rollers between which said arm extends and which are normally in rolling contact with said surfaces at points longitudinally offset along the arm, said roller-s having a couple-producing movement for causing the rollers to clamp said arm to normaly prevent relative movement between said parts, means tiltable relative to said arm for imparting the couple-producing movement to said rollers, and resilient means tending to tilt said tiltable means to cause the couple-producing movement of said rollers and rendering the latter automatically effective to clamp said arm at such offset points at any location along the arm.

6. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, said arm being of a uniform thickness for the major portion of its length and having flat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and having a pair of rollers between which said arm extends and which are normally in rolling contact with said surfaces at points longitudinally offset along the arm, said rollers having a couple-producing swingable movement in one direction for clamping said arm and a swingable movement in the reverse direction for releasing said arm, tiltable means having an opening through which said arm extends and being tiltable in opposite directions relative to said arm for imparting the swingable movements to said rollers, spring means engaging said tiltable means and tending to tilt the same in the direction to cause the rollers to clamp said arm, and releasing means engageable with said tiltable means to tilt the same in the direction to cause the rollers to release said arm.

7. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and including a carrier supporting a pair of rollers between which said arm extends, said carrier and arm being relatively tiltable in one direction for causing said rollers to clamp said arm to normally prevent relative movement between said parts, resilient means tending to produce the relative tilting in said one direction for rendering said rollers automatically effective to clamp said arm at any point therealong, and releasing means effective to produce a relative tilting between said carrier and arm in the opposite direction for causing the rollers to release said arm.

8. In a holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts, an arm adapted for connection with one of said parts, means adapted for mounting on the other of said parts and including a carrier supporting a pair of rollers between which said arm extends, said carrier and arm being relatively tiltable in one direction for causing said rollers to clamp said arm and being relatively tiltable in the reverse direction for causing said rollers to release said arm, resilient means effective to produce said relative tilting in said one direction, and releasing means effective to produce said relative tilting in said reverse direction and in opposition to said resilient means.

9. A holding device as defined in claim 8 in which said arm has substantially flat surfaces on opposite sides thereof, and in which said rollers are in engagement with said flat surfaces.

10. A holding device as defined in claim 8 in which said rollers have a limited relative separating movement.

11. A holding device as defined in claim 8 in which said rollers are rotatably mounted on said carrier, and in which one of said rollers is offset from a transverse plane extending substantially normal to the axis of said arm and passing through the axis of the other roller.

12. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a support adapted for mounting on one of said parts, an arm adapted for connection with the other of said parts and extending adjacent said support, said arm being of uniform thickness for the major portion of its length and having fiat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, a carrier movable relative to said support and tiltable relative to said arm, said carrier having an opening through which said arm extends, rollable means on said carrier and normally being in rollable guiding engagement with said surfaces at points offset longitudinally of said arm, said rollable means being adapted to clamp said arm in response to a predetermined extent of such relative tilting of said carrier, and means effective on said carrier to cause the relative tilting thereof.

13. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a support adapted for mounting on one of said parts, an arm adapted for connection with the other of said parts and extending adjacent said support, said arm being of uniform thickness for the major portion of its length and having flat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, a carrier movable relative to said support and tiltable relative to said arm, said carrier having an opening through which said arm extends, rollable means on said carrier and normally being in rollable guiding engagement with said surfaces at points offset longitudinally of said arm, said rollable means being adapted to clamp said arm in response to a predetermined extent of such relative tilting of said carrier, spring means acting on said carrier and continuously tending to produce said predetermined extent of relative tilting of said carrier for causing said rollable means to automatically clamp said arm at any location therealong, and releasing means engageable with said carrier to tilt the same in opposition to said spring means to cause said rollable means to release said arm.

14. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a support adapted for mounting on one of said parts, a carrier, a pair of rollers on said carrier, an arm adapted for swingable connection with the other of said parts and extending between said rollers, said arm being of uniform thickness for the major portion of its length and having fiat parallel surfaces on opposite sides thereof, said rollers normally being a rollable guiding engagement with said surfaces at points offset along the arm, said carrier being movable relative to said support and tiltable relative to said arm to impart couple-producing movement to said rollers for causing the latter to clamp said arm, and means for imparting the relative tilting movement to said carrier.

15. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a support adapted for mounting on one of said parts, a carrier, a pair of rollers on said carrier, an arm adapted for swingable connection with the other of said parts and extending between said rollers and guidably engaged by the latter, said carrier being movable in opposite directions and relative to said support to impart a couple-producing swinging movement and a return swinging movement to said rollers, the couple-producing movement of said rollers being effective for pressing the rollers against opposite sides of the arm to clamp said arm, spring means effective on said carrier tending to cause said couple-producing movement, and releasing means effective on said carrier to produce the return swinging movement of said rollers to cause said rollers to release said arm.

16. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable swingably connected parts comprising, a cage adapted for mounting on one of said parts, a carrier in said cage, spaced apart rollable elements on said carrier, an arm adapted for swingable connection with the other of said parts and extending between said elements, said arm being guidably engaged by said elements on opposite sides thereof and at points relatively offset longitudinally of the arm, said carrier being tiltable to cause said elements to clamp said arm for normally resisting the relative movement between said parts, and means for causing the tilting of said carrier.

17. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable swingably connected parts comprising, a cage adapted for mounting on one of said parts, a carrier in said cage, spaced apart rollable elements on said carrier, an arm adapted for swingable connection with the other of said parts and extending between said elements, said arm being guidably engaged by said elements on opposite sides thereof and at points relatively offset longitudinally of the arm, means for preventing withdrawal of said arm from between said elements, said carrier being tiltable in one direction to cause said elements to clamp said arm and being tiltable in the opposite direction for causing said elements to release said arm, and means for causing the tilting of said carrier.

18. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a cage adapted for mounting on one of said parts, a carrier in said cage, spaced apart rollable elements on said carrier, an arm adapted for connection with the other of said parts and extending between said elements, said carrier being tiltable in one direction to produce a pressure engagement of said elements against opposite sides of the arm at relatively oifset points along the latter for clamping said arm and tiltable in the opposite direction for relieving said pressure engagement of said elements for releasing said arm, resilient means effective to cause tilting of said carrier in said one direction, and releasing means for causing tilting of said carrier in said opposite direction.

19. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a cage adapted for mounting on one of said parts, a carrier in said cage, spaced apart substantially parallel-axis rollers on said carrier, a substantially flat-surfaced arm adapted for connection with the other of said parts and extending between said rollers, said carrier being tiltable in one direction to produce a pressure engagement of said rollers against opposite sides of the arm at relatively offset points along the latter for causing the rollers to clamp said arm and tiltable in the opposite direction for relieving said pressure engagement of said rollers to release said arm, spring means effective between said cage and carrier tending to tilt the latter in said one direction, and releasing means for causing tilting said carrier in said opposite direction in response to relative movement between said parts.

20. A holding device for use between a pair of relatively movable parts comprising, a support adapted for connection with one of said parts, a carrier, a pair of rollers, retainer means mounting said rollers on said carrier in a spaced apart substantially parallel relation and for rotation about their axes, an arm adapted for connection with the other of said parts and extending between said rollers, said carrier being movable relative to said support and arm for causing the rol'ers to clamp or release said arm, and means for imparting the relative movement to said carrier.

21. A holding device as defined in claim 20 in which said carrier comprises plate means having an opening therein through which said arm extends, said rollers having intermediate portions thereof extending across said opening and engaging opposite sides of said arm.

22. A holding device as defined in claim 20 in which said carrier is a sheet metal plate and in which said retainer means is a sheet metal member attached to said plate.

23. A holding device as defined in claim 20 in wrich said carrier is a sheet metal plate and in which said retainer means is a sheet metal member attached to said plate, said plate and member having substantially aligned openings therein through which said arm extends.

24. A holding device as defined in claim 20 in which said rollers have relatively reduced end portions and in which said retainer means cooperates with said reduced end portions for mounting the rollers on said carrier.

25. A holding device as defined in claim 20 in which said carrier is a sheet metal plate and in which said retainer means is defined at least in part by a deflected portion of said plate.

26. A holding device as defined in claim 20 in which said carrier has bearing means thereon for said rollers and defined at least in part by said retainer means, and in which said rollers are of a substantially uniform diameter and are movable endwise thereof into said bearing means.

27. A holding device as defined in claim 20- in which said arm and rollers are of metal, and in which the metal of said rollers is relatively harder than the metal of said arm.

28. In a holding device for use with a hinged structure and its supporting structure, an arm adapted to be connected with one of said structures, a pair of rollers between which said arm extends, a carrier adapted to be associated with the other of said structures and supporting said rollers, said carrier and arm being relatively tiltable, said rollers being clampingly effective on said arm to grip the latter at any point therealong in re sponse to the relative tilting between said carrier and arm, and means for producing said relative tilting.

29. In a holding device for use with a hinged door structure and its associated frame structure, a rigid arm adapted to be pivotally connected with one of said structures, the other of said structures being hollow, a pair of rollers located within the hollow structure and between which said arm extends, said rollers being in rollable guiding engagement with said arm on opposite sides thereof and at points relatively offset longitudinally of said arm, said rollers being clampingly effective on said arm to grip the same at any location therealong in response to a couple-producing movement of said rollers relative to said arm, means for causing said coupleproducing movement of said rollers, and releasing means located within the same structure as that containing said rollers and being effective to cause movement of said rollers in a direction reverse to said couple-producing movement to release said arm whenever said door structure is being moved.

30. in a holding device for use with a hinged door structure and its associated frame structure, a cage adapted to be mounted within one of said structures, an arm adapted to be connected with the other of said structures and being of a length to extend through said cage for all operative relative positions of said structures, a carrier tiltable in said cage and having an opening therein through which said arm extends, a pair of rollers on said carrier adjacent said opening and between which said arm extends, said rollers being clampingly effective on said arm to grip the same at any point therealong in response to a couple-producing movement of said rollers produced by tilting of said carrier, and a spring in said cage tending to tilt said carrier to cause said coupleproducing movement and such gripping of said arm by said rollers whenever said door structure is relatively stationary.

31. In a holding device for use with a supporting structure and a swingable structure connected therewith and having a normal tendency to swing toward a given position, an arm adapted to be connected with one of said structures and to extend adjacent the other of said structures, a carrier adapted to be located on said other of said structures, a pair of rollers on said carrier and between which said arm extends, said carrier being tiltable to cause a couple-producing movement of said rollers relative to said arm for causing a clamped relationship of the rollers with said arm, resilient means engaging said carrier and effective thereagainst to tilt the same in the couple-producing direction of movement of said rollers, and means connected with said other structure and also engaging said resilient means for subjecting the latter to loading by swinging of the swingable structure in response to said normal tendency, said clamped relationship being releasable b-y tilting of said carrier in opposition to said resilient means.

32. A combination as defined in claim 31 in which said swingable structure is a door having a normal tendency to swing toward its closed position and is adapted to be manually moved to said closed position, said means connected with said other structure being movably responsive to the manual closing of said door to cause additional loading of said resilient means such that said resilient means assists the initial opening movement of said door.

33. In a holding device for use with a hinged door structure and its associated frame structure, a cage mounted within one of said structures, an arm connected with the other of said structures and extending through said cage, a carrier tiltable in said cage and having an opening therein, a pair of spaced apart rollers on said carrier adjacent said opening and between which said arm extends, contact elements on said carrier on opposite sides of and spaced from said pair of rollers, and a spring in said cage tending to tilt said carrier to cause a couple-producing movement of said rollers in one direction relative to said arm for causing the rollers to clampingly grip said arm at any point therealong whenever said door structure is relatively stationary, said carrier being tiltable in the opposite direction to cause said rollers to release said arm, the tilting of said carrier in said opposite direction being responsive to engagement between said cage and one of said contact elements upon movement of said door structure in one direction and responsive to engagement between said cage and another of said contact elements upon movement of said door structure in the other direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent 116 Moore June 8, 1943 Quigley et a1. Nov. 16, 1948 Gussack Mar. 22, 1949 Davidson July 12, 1949 Cain Nov. 1, 1955 Jacobson Nov. 15, 1955 

